Old Time Radio Christmas Shows | Old Time Radio

Suspense presents “Christmas for Carole,” originally broadcast on CBS on December 21, 1950. In this episode, Dennis Day takes a rare straight dramatic role as Paul, a struggling bank teller facing an unbearable financial crisis as Christmas Eve approaches. Elliott Lewis directed and produced this holiday installment.

With his wife Carole requiring costly nursing care, Paul finds himself pulled between desperation, temptation, and conscience. Set amid a Christmas Eve bank and the home of an elderly couple, this unusually warm Suspense story turns holiday pressure into a tense moral crossroads.

Old Time Radio Christmas Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:42 Original Broadcast
30:17 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Railroad Hour presents “The Happy Prince,” originally broadcast on December 24, 1951. This Christmas Eve NBC presentation is episode 169 of the series.

Adapted from Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the story follows a wayward Swallow who finds refuge beside a beautiful statue overlooking a wintry city. Gordon MacRae stars as the Happy Prince, with Lucille Norman as the Little Swallow and John McIntire as narrator; Carmen Dragon conducts music featuring Norman Luboff and his choir.

Old Time Radio Christmas Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:43 Original Broadcast
28:25 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Family Theater presents “The Littlest Angel,” originally broadcast December 21, 1949. Episode 149 of the Mutual Broadcasting System series is narrated by Loretta Young and adapts Charles Tazewell’s beloved Christmas story.

A very young, homesick cherub struggles to find his place in Paradise with help from the kindly Understanding Angel. As Heaven prepares for the approaching Nativity in Bethlehem, the Littlest Angel considers what he can offer. The production features Jeffrey Silver as the Littlest Angel, with music and choral compositions conducted by Harry Zimmerman.

Old Time Radio Christmas Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:46 Original Broadcast
29:29 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

The Shadow’s “Joey’s Christmas Story” originally aired on December 22, 1940. In this Mutual Broadcasting System holiday broadcast, Bill Johnstone stars as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow, with Marjorie Anderson as Margo Lane.

At Christmastime, Lamont and Margo pay their annual visit to Joey McNulty, a young newsboy with a lively imagination and a passion for detective stories. Joey’s make-believe mystery soon points toward the real worries facing his family, giving the Shadow a chance to bring compassion and moral clarity to a Christmas-season city neighborhood. The drama was sponsored by Blue Coal and adapted from a story copyrighted by The Shadow Magazine.

Old Time Radio Christmas Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:48 Original Broadcast
29:48 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Columbia Workshop, episode 59, presents “The Plot to Overthrow Christmas,” originally broadcast on CBS on December 22, 1940. Written, produced, and directed by Norman Corwin, this sustaining-program holiday fantasy features performers including Eric Burroughs, Martin Gabel, and Ray Collins.

In Corwin’s richly rhymed comic fantasy, Mephistopheles assembles an infernal council of history and literature’s most notorious villains to mount an attack on the spirit of Christmas—with Santa Claus at the center of their scheme. A distinctive half-hour holiday play, it revisits Corwin’s first original CBS drama.

Old Time Radio Christmas Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:42 Original Broadcast
31:41 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio